Sage Karam

Number: 22

QUALIFIED 10TH AND 11TH FOR THE INDY GRAND PRIX OF SONOMA

Sonoma, CA (August 27, 2011)- Today was an
exciting day for Dreyer & Reinbold Racing, who will be making
their seventh appearance at Infineon Raceway tomorrow. The
team proved that their hard work throughout the last two days had
paid off as they had successful results in today's qualifications
for Sunday's race. Ana Beatriz, pilot of the No. 24 Ipiranga
machine qualified 10th on the grid for tomorrow's event. Her
teammate, Giorgio Pantano, pilot of the No. 22 TranSystems car,
will start 11th for the race.

Ana Beatriz proved again today that she is continuing to
graduate from rookie status. The Brazilian showed again that the
test last week helped point the team in the right direction. Today
marked the first time that Beatriz advanced to the Fast Twelve, as
she moved into that session with ease. Unfortunately, she was
unable to continue to the Fast Six as she didn't quite have the
grip that she needed. Beatriz clocked a fast time of 1:19.1100,
earning her best IZOD IndyCar qualifying result of the season with
a 10th place starting spot on the grid for tomorrow's race.

This weekend marks her third appearance to Infineon Raceway, but
her first in the top level of the sport. In 2008, she made her
first start there in the Firestone Indy Lights Series where she
started 5th and finished 6th. In 2009, she started 2nd and finished
5th. The Brazilian, secured her second best IZOD IndyCar career
qualifying result in Milwaukee with an 11th place starting spot. In
July of this year, she earned her best qualifying result on a road
course, with a 23rd place starting position, and her second best
career finish in the IZOD IndyCar Series in Edmonton finishing
13th. Bia earned her best IZOD IndyCar result in Toronto, Canada
when she brought the car home in 11th place.

It was a similar story for Pantano who showed that he is
continuing to gel quite nicely with the team. The Italian made his
first appearance to Infineon Raceway in 2006 and after six years of
not competing in IndyCar, he made a pretty impressive statement in
qualifying today. Pantano advanced to the Fast Twelve.
Unfortunately he was unable to continue into the Fast Six. He
clocked the 11th quickest time of 1:19.2408.

Dreyer & Reinbold Racing will be on track for the Indy Grand
Prix of Sonoma in Sonoma, California tomorrow. The race telecast
will air live on Sunday, August 14th at 4:00 pm (ET) on VERSUS.

What they have to say...

Giorgio Pantano No. 22 TranSystems: "I'm not
that happy, to be honest. I was convinced that we would be in a
better position, but that's okay because tomorrow is a long day.
This was my first qualifying after six years, and tomorrow is a
long race tomorrow and we will work hard to bring home a good
result."

Ana Beatriz, No. 24 Ipiranga: "We came to the
test with a couple of ideas and we tried different things that
helped us find another fast way. I'm really glad that we found it
and that we came here and were competitive. I'm really happy that
we were able to make it into the Fast Twelve. Unfortunately, in the
second qualifying we didn't quite get the grip that we had in the
first session, but I'm happy with where we ended up. I'm really
proud of the Ipiranga crew and I would like to thank Dreyer &
Reinbold Racing for all of their hard work. We have been pushing
really hard and it's great to be in the top-ten. We will push hard
tomorrow during the race and hopefully we can get a good
result."